The Rangers dominated play by outshooting Yankton, 54-7, en route to an 8-2 win over the Bucks on Saturday night.
Trevor Pederson opened the scoring 9 1/2 minutes in with an unassisted tally, and then, Kane Kurtenbach lit the lamp with another unassisted goal 27 seconds later as Brookings led 2-0 after a period.
Brookings added three goals in the second – the first an unassisted tally by Luc Bouchard – followed by two goals by Noah Ronning, the first set up by Bouchard and the second unassisted, as the Rangers led 5-1 through two.
The Rangers tacked on three more goals in the third – two by Carter Merritt and the final score an unassisted Nick Jonas lamp lighter. Merritt’s first tally was unassisted and the second was a power-play chance set up by Jordan Svobodny and Jonas.
Kaden Gutormson finished with five saves in goal for the win.
Brookings sits fourth in the SDAHA standings with 18 points, courtesy of a 9-4 record.
The Rangers picked up a couple of road wins over the weekend, beating Mitchell, 8-1, on Saturday and shutting out Oahe, 8-0, on Sunday.
The wins give Brookings a 13-1-0-1 mark, good for second in the SDAHA standings with 27 points, a point behind Sioux Falls 2.
• Brookings 8, Mitchell 1
Breck Hirrschoff’s unassisted goal was the only goal of the first period, but the Rangers got it going in the second with four tallies.
Jack Merritt converted a power-play opportunity less than 2 minutes in off assists from Isaac Schulte and Hirrschoff, and then, Schulte lit the lamp twice – the first set up by Trenton Pederson and the second helped by Zach Struck and Pederson. Eli Johnson netted his first goal of the season with less than a minute to play as Struck picked up another assist.
After the Marlins got on the scoreboard early in the third, Brookings tacked on three more goals.
Schulte netted his third goal of the game for a hat trick off a Joseph Wu assist; Struck lit the lamp off Pederson’s play-maker assist; and then, Hirrschoff tallied an unassisted goal for the final margin.
Kade Brecher collected 10 saves for the win in goal as the Rangers held a 48-11 edge in shots.
• Brookings 8, Oahe 0
The Rangers netted three goals in the first, four in the second and one in the third as they outshot Oahe, 60-12, with Brecher earning the shutout win with 12 stops.
Hirrschoff tallied an unassisted goal to get Brookings started, and then, Pederson lit the lamp with a power-play goal off a Hirrschoff helper. Merritt netted another power-play goal with Hirrschoff and Brody Powers picking up the assists.
In the second, Hirrschoff scored off assists from Isaac Dobesh and Johnson before Struck lit the lamp with Wu getting the assist. Hirrschoff set up the last two goals of the period – the first scored by Powers and the second by Merritt for the 7-0 advantage.
Schulte provided for the final margin with a goal 6 minutes into the third period as Wu picked up another assist.
The Rangers posted a 1-2 record over the weekend after dropping a pair of games to Brandon Valley – 5-0 and 3-2 – before beating Aberdeen, 1-0.
Brookings is fifth in the standings with six points, courtesy of a 3-9 mark.
• Brandon Valley 5, Brookings 0
Brandon Valley scored two goals in each of the first two periods and then added a third-period tally for the final score as they outshot the Rangers, 30-22.
Addison Ronning finished with 25 saves in goal in the loss.
• Brandon Valley 3, Brookings 2
The Rangers held a 2-0 lead after a period as Spencer Heflin tallied an unassisted goal 2 minutes into play, and then, Gage Peterson scored off a Garrett Bothe assist 24 seconds later.
Brandon Valley cut the lead in half with a goal in the second before netting two in the third to rally for the win.
Ronning collected 27 saves in the loss as the Rangers were outshot, 30-22.
• Brookings 1, Aberdeen 0
Jacob Ramlo tallied an unassisted goal in the first period and the Rangers made it stand up for the win as Ronning stopped all 23 shots that he faced for the shutout win.
The Rangers closed out their regular season with a 3-1 win over Sioux Center to finish sixth in the SDAHA standings with seven points from a 3-14-1-0 record.
After the Tornadoes opened the scoring, Taryn Richter tallied a goal for the tie off assists from Taylor Hokenson and Libby Merritt. Maggie Dunbar’s unassisted goal gave Brookings a 2-1 lead after a period.
Jayda Geraets lit the lamp 40 seconds into the second period to provide for the final margin as Rorii Quam had 24 saves as the Rangers held a 42-25 advantage in shots.
The Rangers posted a 2-1-1 record at the New Ulm/Sleepy Eye Tournament over the weekend to finish fifth. Brookings opened with a 6-5 win over Monticello before skated to a 3-3 tie with Hutchinson. After an 11-1 loss to New Prague, the Rangers beat Sioux Center, 6-2, in the fifth-place game.
• Brookings 6, Sioux Center 2
Owen Schneider’s unassisted goal opened the first-period scoring before Luke Honkomp lit the lamp off assists from Jacob Peterson and Schneider as the Rangers led 2-1 after a period.
In the second period, Peterson scored on a power-play goal off assists from Schneider and Honkomp as Brookings held a 3-1 advantage through two.
Peterson netted three more goals in the third period – the first set up by Schneider and the last two unassisted – as Brookings held a 26-23 edge in shots.
• Brookings 6, Monticello 5
Jacob Kahle tallied an unassisted power-play goal as the Rangers trailed 3-1 after a period.
Brookings netted four goals in the second period to take a 5-4 lead through two. Peterson sandwiched a pair of goals around a Schneider unassisted tally, and then, Riley Linstad lit the lamp off assists from Peterson and Schneider. Ren Jacobsen set up Peterson’s first goal and Schneider helped on the second.
Peterson added an unassisted goal in the third period, which turned out to be the game winner.
• Brookings 3, Hutchinson 3
Schneider tallied an unassisted goal to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead after a period.
Brookings led 3-2 through two when Peterson and Schneider scored in the second period as Honkomp set up Peterson and Linstad helped on Schneider’s power-play goal.
But Hutchinson, which held a 31-17 edge in shots, tied the game with a late third-period goal.
• New Prague 11, Brookings 1
New Prague netted four goals in the first, four in the second and three in the third while the Rangers managed just one second-period tally as Schneider lit the lamp off a Linstad assist.
The Rangers dropped three league games over the weekend – 5-4 to Sioux Falls 2; 8-7 to Brandon; and 5-4 to Aberdeen – to fall to 2-9-1-0 on the season.
• Sioux Falls (2) 5, Brookings 4
Orange rallied with four third-period goals for the win.
Waylon Carroll netted a first-period goal off a Jay Harris assist as the score was tied 1-1.
The Rangers went up 3-1 through two when Talon Hyde lit the lamp twice – the first unassisted and the second set up by Jackson Heller and Isaak Earley.
After Sioux Falls scored twice to tie the game, Heller tallied an unassisted goal, but Orange scored twice in 90 seconds late in the third to pull out the win.
Brookings outshot Orange, 35-14, as Brayden Bingham collected nine saves in the loss.
• Brandon 8, Brookings 7
Brandon led 4-2 after a period and 6-3 through two, before the Rangers rallied with four goals in the third, but Brandon scored late to earn the win.
Harris opened the scoring off an Earley assist before Hyde tallied an unassisted goal.
Hyde scored three more unassisted goals – the first in the second period, and the last two in the third before Jack Lee lit the lamp off a Heller assist. Harris scored the final goal with the help of Carroll.
• Aberdeen 5, Brookings 4
Aberdeen built a 5-2 lead before the Rangers scored twice in the third period to make it close.
Hyde scored unassisted goals in both the first and second periods as Brookings trailed 4-2 through two.
Harris lit the lamp off a Hyde assist, and then, tallied an unassisted goal for the final margin.
Brookings outshot the Cougars, 32-19, as Bingham collected 14 saves.
The Rangers went 0-4 at the Marshall Tournament over the weekend as they opened with a 14-1 loss to Luverne on Friday. On Saturday, Brookings came up short to Sauk Rapids, 8-3, and then, fell 7-1 to Waseca. The Rangers closed out the tournament with a 4-3 loss to Marshall on Sunday.
• Luverne 14, Brookings 1
Luverne scored four goals in the first, six in the second and five in the third while Gideon Merhib lit the lamp for the Rangers in the third period off a Denver Qiao assist.
Matthew Bothe collected 30 saves in the loss as Luverne held a 44-14 edge in shots.
• Sauk Rapids 8, Brookings 3
Sauk Rapids led 3-1 after one and 7-2 through two as the Minnesota squad outshot the Rangers, 24-9, with Bothe notching 16 saves in the loss.
Parker Nielsen tallied an unassisted goal in the first while Merhib scored unassisted goals in both the second and third periods.
• Waseca 7, Brookings 1
Cooper Schneider netted an unassisted goal in the first period as Waseca led 3-1 after a period and 5-1 through two on the way to the six-goal win.
Bothe stopped 24 shots as Waseca held a 31-7 advantage in shots.
• Marshall 4, Brookings 3
Marshall led 2-0 after a period, and then, scored the only goal in the third period for the win after the Rangers rallied with three second-period goals to Marshall’s single tally.
In the second period, Nielsen netted an unassisted goal before Schneider found the back of the net off a Nielsen helper. Merhib closed out the Rangers’ scoring with another unassisted goal as Bothe finished with 13 saves in the loss as Marshall outshot Brookings, 17-14.
The Rangers went 0-2 over the weekend with a 4-2 loss to Watertown and an 8-2 loss to Oahe.
• Watertown 4, Brookings 2
The Lakers scored two goals in both the first and third periods while the Rangers scored their two goals in the second period.
Rhys Heiberger scored an unassisted goal before Derrick Eischens lit the lamp off Keygan Peterson assist as Nathan Brecher finished with 16 saves in the loss as Watertown held a 22-20 edge in shots.
• Oahe 8, Brookings 2
After a scoreless first period, the Capitals went up 3-1 through two before pulling away with a 5-1 scoring advantage in the third.
In the second period, Heiberger scored off a Micah Zweibahmer helper, and then, Andrew Hahn tallied an unassisted goal in the third.
Ryder Anderson collected 27 goals as Oahe outshot the Rangers, 35-8.
